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Saturday, April 26, 2008

Richardson Visits Venezuela in Effort To Free Hostages

By Rachel Jones/
Associated Press
      
    CARACAS, Venezuela — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson turned to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Saturday for help in pressing for the release of three Americans held hostage by Colombian rebels.
    Chavez said ahead of a meeting with the Democratic governor that he hopes to be able to help, but is not sure what he can do.
    "He's coming with the mission of trying to help in the rescue of those three Americans who are in the hands of the FARC,'' Chavez said in a speech, referring to the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
    "I don't know if I'm going to be able to continue helping,'' Chavez said. "I'm going to listen to him, to see how we could — I don't know — help.''
    Richardson, who was to meet with Chavez at the presidential palace Saturday night, said after arriving on Friday that he would discuss ways to advance a proposed swap of hostages for imprisoned guerrillas.
    "I think President Chavez can help and can play a role in this issue,'' Richardson said.
    The governor, who has previously served as a diplomatic troubleshooter to help free Americans in other countries, said he visited Venezuela at the request of hostages' families.
    Three U.S. defense contractors — Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell — have been held by the FARC since their plane went down in rebel-held jungles in February 2003.
    The FARC has proposed to exchange high-value hostages for imprisoned members of the group, but the guerrillas and Colombia's U.S.-allied government have long been deadlocked over the terms.
    Chavez said the hostage issue "is an internal problem of Colombia'' and added that "I only got involved when the two sides asked me to'' in the past.
    Richardson visited Colombia last month and met with the country's president, Alvaro Uribe. The leftist rebels have unilaterally freed six hostages to Chavez's socialist government this year.
    Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary under former President Bill Clinton, has previously negotiated the release of Americans in North Korea, Iraq and Sudan.

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